Eyeshield



Sept. 22, 1942. G. 1. FINK 2,296,634

EYE-SHIELD Filed Oct. 27, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR.

01295 1. F K BY z ATTORNFV Sept. 22, 1942. G. l. FINK 2,296,634

EYE-SHIELD Filed 001:. 27, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR.

EoRgE Z. F/NK BY ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EYESHIELD George I. Fink, Far Rockaway, N. Y. Application October 27, 1941, Serial No. 416,637 4 Claims. (Cl. 2-12) below the eyes. More particularly, the shield is molded from a non-breakable transparent plastic material such as, for example, Lucite, Bakelite," etc, and is shaped to closely engage the wearer's face and to provide maximum protection with maximum vision. The eye-shields of the presentinvention may be constructed for use as sunglasses or for use as goggles, and in either case is well adapted to be worn in position over eye glasses which may be required by the wearer.

When the eye-shield is used as sunglasses, the transparent plastic material of which the eyeshield is formed may be colored to counteract glare, and by reason of the curvature of said eyeface above the eyes and from one side of the face to the other, the passage of sunlight to the wearers eyes from above and at points at the outer ends of the eyes, except through the glare counteracting material of the shield, is effectively prevented. Similarly, in the case of the embodiment of the invention in the form of goggles the engagement of the shield at lts'edges with the parts of the wearer's face above and below the eyes affords maximum protection by keeping out wind, rain, dust, etc., and further the goggles may have an anti-glare or sungiass characteristic by properly coloring the plastic material of which the eye-shield is made, for protection against the glare of the sun or electrlc arcs or flashes.

While the eye-shield is molded into the concave-convex form'indicated above, and will inherently tend to retain said form, said shield is provided with means which improves upon and adds to the inherent form-sustaining quality of the shield. The provision of an eye-shield having this feature constitutes another object of the invention.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide the outer convexly curved surface of the eyeshield with means to prevent scratching or scarring of said convex surface when the eye-shield is placed on a table or other flat surface with 55 from said plastic and in the molding operation the outer convexly curved surfaceof the shield next to said-supporting surface. Further, along this line the invention contemplates the reinforcement'of the edges of the eye-shield to improve upon the inherent fcrm-sustaining characteristic due to the concave convex surface contour of the shield.

Another object of the invention, in reference to shields having temples for holding the shield in place on the wearer, is to provide'temples of improved construction and to hingedly connect the temples in the front of the shield in such manner as to exclude the passage of light at the joints between the .te'mples and the adjacent ends of the front part of the shield.

The above and other objects. features and advantages of the invention. will be fully understood from the following description considered 7 shield whereby it closely engages the wearer's I in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a top edge view of an eye-shield em: bodying the present invention, said eye-shield being intended for use as sunglasses;

Fig. 2 is a front view of said eye-shield;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 1- -3 of V Fig. 2;

Fig. ,4 is a side view of the eye-shield;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary inner view of the eyeshield taken along the part thereof indicated by the line 5- of Fla. 1;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-8 of Fig. 7 is a front view of an eye-shield of the present invention in the form of goggles;

Fig. 8 isa top edge view trated in Fig. 7; FlFig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 8-! of Fig. 9A is an enlarged sectional view on the line lA-SA of Fig. '1;

Figs. 10 and 11 are front views of eye-shields in the form of sunglasses and goggles, respecof the goggles illustively, provided with light-refractive portions or lenses.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, the eye-shield I. embodying the present invention compr es a front member I2 composed of a transparent plastic. for example, Lucite, Bakellte," or any other mol lable transparent plastic material. Said material is colored to provide the anti-glare quality required in sunglasses. Sai'd front member I 2 is molded member.

Hedge. interrupted projections constituted by the ribs is providedwith a concave-convex surface curvature. the convex surface being the outer surface, the inner surface of said member being concave. 'I'he thickness of member I2 is preferably such that said member is substantially rigid and nondeformable. Said member I2 is shaped, in the molding thereof, to flt over the wearer's eyes and to conform to the wearers face in close abutting relation with the wearers forehead and with the parts of the face below the eyes. Said member extends from the forehead, over the eyes. to parts of the face below the eyes, and from a point near and preferably rearwardly of More particularly, the upper edge It of member I2 engages the wearer's forehead above the eyes are hingedly connected at their forward ends to V the adjacent ends of the front member I2 by means of hinges 40. Said temples are somewhat curved longitudinally thereof. as shown in Fig. 1,

to provide a resilient engagement at the sides 7 of the wearers head over the ears, and it will be observed that they taper in width from front to rear, the forward ends of said temples being substantially as wide as the adjacent end of ed integrally with the temple 38 at the forward one eye to a similar point near the other eye.

and preferably just above the eyebrows, for substantially the full length of said front member. Theintermediate portion I6 of member I2 is of reduced width by reason of the provision of the central recess IS in the lower edge of front member I2, said lower edge engaging theparts of the wearer's face below the eyes and, in the region ofgrecess I8, above the nose or at the- 2 upper part-of thenose. It will be understood that member I2 being thus dimensioned to engage the forehead'and the parts of the face be- 1 low the eyes is substantially larger than the usual sun lasses whereby the eye-shield is well adapted-to afford maximum vision. Also, inthis connection it will be observed that thesunglasses of vision.

Front member I2 is provided with means for adding tn'the inherent form-sustaining characteristic of the concave-convex shape of said member. As here shown "said meanscomprises integrally molded parts which projecttransversely over and outwardly from the outer or '32- and 34, adjacent the lower edgeofsaid member I2 adjacent the edgethereof and constitute part ofthe means for reinforcing said It will be understood that in lieu of the p Also, as here shown, a plurality of smaller cylindrical projections 36 are formed onber I2.

. are devoid of rims which would reduce the degree end thereof. Parts 42 are in aligned spaced relation at each, end of member I2 and parts 44 are in aligned spaced relation at the forward end of the temple, and said last mentioned parts 1 fit between parts l2 whenthe temples are assembled with member I2. Said companion parts 42 and 44 have aligned apertures therethrough in which a metal pintle 46 extends for completing the hinge. In order to prevent the passage temples and the adjacent ends of member I2,

the forward ends of the temples are arranged to overlap the adjacentends, respectively. of mem- For this purpose each end of member Ills provided with a recess .48 in which the forward end portion 50 of the adjacent temple is received when the shield is on the wearer, so that the line of division 52 between each temple 38 and the adjacent end of member I2 is offset laterally of the companion hinge .40. As here shown, each temple is provided with means for into a single rib 54a in the narrower part-0f the temple.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 7 to 9, the eye-shield I DA there shown is adapted for use as goggles. Saideye-shield comprises'a 1 vex-concave contour thereof.

- molded into said inwardlyconcave and outwardly and cylindrical projections at the upper and tively, for the full length thereof.

the latter be provided with two ribs, one extend-1 ing from one end of said member I2 to a point near the central recess I8 and the other extending from the other end of member I2 to a point near said central recess. The ribs whether in the form illustrated herein, or in some other form, are preferably dimensioned to extend out-' member I2a similar to member I2 as to the con- Member I2a is convex form from a transparent plastic such as indicated above and is shaped to engage the wearer's forehead above the eyes and the parts of the face below the eyesat a close flt substantially in'the same way as member I2 described above. As hereshown, however, member I2a instead of being provided with parts projecting from the outer surface thereof is provided with a peripherally continuous rib 56 which projects from the inner concave surface of said member completely therearound. Said recess is provided with a groove. 58 in which is positioned a strip. 60 of felt or other suitable padding" ma,-

, terial,-said strip on extending outwardly of sai groove for engaging the ',.Wearers face. In lieu of temples for securing the eye-shield IDA in position on the wearer/member 12a is'provided V wardly somewhat beyond the point ofmaximuln 1 curvature of member I2 whereby to prevent:

scratching or scarring of the outer convex sur-- face of said member whenthe eye-shield is laid down with the convex surface of member I2 next to the table or other article on which the article is placed. Thus, these projecting parts not only act to'relnforce themember I2 of the eye-shield but also constitute means to prevent scratching or scarring of the material of which member I2 ismolded.

The temples are preferably formed of, the

I same material as frontmember I2. Said temples reral rib it constitutes means for reinforcing at the opposite endsithereof with '-holes 82 in which the ends of afastening strap 64 indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7 are secured."said,fastening strap being preferably adju'gable to snugly engage around the baclr'of the wearers heador head covering. It will be observed that periphmember12 whereby to improve the inherent form-sustaining characteristic of the concaveconvex surface contour and also providermeans v for holding the cushion'strip 60. It will be unders tood'that the sunglasses III may be provided with a similar rib in lieu of or in addition to the projecting parts described above. Goggles IDA are sufficiently thick to .be substantially rigid and non-deformable.

The eye-shields l and A described above may, if desired, be provided with light-refractive portions or lenses. Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 10 the eye-shield IBB may be similar in all respects to the eye-shield Ill and may be provided as well with light-refractive portions 66, and the goggles IOC which corresponds in construction to the goggles HIA illustrated in Figs. 7 to 9 may be provided with light-refractive portions or lenses 68. Said lenses 6S and 68 may be formed of glass or of a suitable plastic and may be colored or clear. It will be understood, however, that eye-shields I03 and IOC are of the same curvatures as the eye-shields Ill and IDA and. that the lenses 6B and 68 will be shaped to conform as nearly as possible to said curvatures so that in these modifications of the invention as well as in the forms illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9,

the outer and inner surfaces of the member, that is, the member which corresponds, to the member I! of the eye-shield Ill, each has a continuous curvature from one end to the other end thereof and from the upper edge of said-member to the lower edge thereof.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically shown or described and that in the illustrated forms various changes may be made without departing from the underlying idea or spirit of the invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the constructions herein specifically illustrated or described except to the extent which may be required by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An eye-shield comprising a concavo-convex member of molded transparent material shaped to fit over the wearers eyes and to conform to the wearers face in close abutting relation with the wearers forehead and with the parts of the face below the eyes, said member extending from a point near the outer end of one eye to a point near the outer end of the other eye and from above the eyes to below the eyes, said member having an outer convex surface and an inner concave surface, each of said surfaces having a continuous curvature from one end to the other end thereof and from its upper edge to its lower edge, there being a central recess in the lower edge of said member to fit the latter over the wearer's nose.

2. An eye-shield comprising a molded concavoconvex transparent member shaped to fit over the wearers eyes to completely cover the same and to engage the wearers forehead in abutting relation thereto continuously from a point at one side of the face to a point at the opposite side of the face, said member having an outer convex sur face and an inner concave surface, each of said surfaces having a continuous curvature from one end to the other end thereof and from its upper edge to its lower edge.

3. An eye-shield comprising a molded concavoconvex transparent member shaped to fit over the wearer's eyes to completely cover the same and to engage the wearers forehead in abutting relation thereto continuously from a point at one side of the face to a point at the opposite side of the face, said member having an outer -convex surface and an inner concave surface, each of said surfaces having a continuous curvature from one end to the other end thereof and from its upper edge to its lower edge, a rib projecting from the inner surface of said member near. the edge thereof, said rib having a groove, and a strip of pad material positioned in said groove and extending outwardly therefrom.

4. An eye-shield comprising a molded concavoconvex transparent member shaped to fit over the wearers eyes to completely cover the same and to engage the wearers forehead in abutting relation thereto continuously from a point at one side of the face to a point at the opposite side of the face, said member having an outer convex surface and an inner concave surface, each of said surfaces having a continuous curvatm'e from one end to the other end thereof and from its upper edge to its lower edge, said member having parts near the upper and lower edges thereof projecting outwardly from said outer surface to points beyond the maximum point of curvature of said outer surface.

GEORGE I. FINK. 

